I am not sure if this is the first time that this has happened, but it is the first time that I remember hearing about it. One of my friends in north Idaho told me that they have had so much rain the last few days that she was concerned about their property flooding, and apparently a lot of that rain also went on into Montana and has affected the Yellowstone river. There is so much flooding there that the people visiting the park have been told to leave immediately, and the northern route through Montana is completely closed from the road washing out, so visitors have to take one of the southern routes to get out of the park.
Looking at an aerial video of where the road is washed out, and this is not just a little washout, there are HUGE sections of road that are completely washed out and gone. It is going to take them months to rebuild this, and with the economy the way it is right now, I wonder if they will even try to rebuild the road, or just keep the park closed down ?
Better than hot lava right. No need to go into just how dangerous Yellowstone really is regarding a future volcanic eruption. Things are beginning to happen there that usually precede a bad one, rain not an issue of course. Today I wish I had some of that rain, it is really hot here in La, I got up early just to go out and fix my plugged fuel filter and shop before the heat started creeping in. Got the fuel fixed and half the shopping so I am now off the clock at 9:45am. The east is getting all the rain and of course southern Florida, we don't get as much the past few years. I believe Florida gets the highest rainfall each year than any other state. Living in high desert Nevada at 6000 feet you could watch thunder and lightening storms move across the mountains above you and it would evaporate before it hit the ground it was so hot.
From what I saw, this is the first time the park has been completely closed due to flooding. Some say part of the park will open in the future, but much of the park road system will apparently have to be rebuilt before it can completely reopen. I couldn't find an estimate as to when that will be.
We stayed at the Yellowstone Valley Inn in August of 2007. As we headed towards this motel, we ran into an absolute downpour of rain. We had to pull over for a few minutes. Got to the Inn, got our room and arranged a private van tour of part of Yellowstone for the next morning. There was a mudslide on the highway, but luckily, it was cleared by mid-morning. We were only able to see part of YNP, so, after we checked out of the Inn, we got a room in Cody for a couple of nights. The first day in Cody, we drove our Durango to the part of YNP where the big waterfall is that comes down into the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. After we passed the Fishing Bridge, we notice a bunch of white tents set up for firefighters. There was a wildfire going on in YNP, but we only seen some smoke from a distance. While driving thru part of YNP, burned trees could be seen quite a bit. Our trip was absolutely incredible and never to be forgotten. I got plenty of pictures/video of buffalo (in the valley), deer, fox and Yellowstone Lake/Hotel, plus plenty of other things. It was a wonderful trip!
I went through Yellowstone on one of my trips between Washington and Missouri, and it was amazing and beautiful. I got to watch Old Faithful erupt, and saw the heated pools, and all of the wild animals that wander around in the park. It was on a trip where I was just passing through, and took the route through the park from Montana and then down through Wyoming; so I didn’t get to see everything by any means; but I really enjoyed what I did see. I remember reading that we had sold off at lest part of our national parks (Obama ?), so I am not even sure if America still owns Yellowstone park or not.
More than just the park is getting the terrible effects of the flooding. This drone video shows farms and homes that are flooded in Montana, so this is causing a lot of devastation all over in that area. I looked on my Apple Maps, and there are miles and miles of roads in Montana that are completely shut down (red lines).
Two good friends I met in Nevada had a 14 room house on the Yellowstone within walking distance and 500 acres. Both have since passed away after I left Nevada in 2005 and they had one daughter and one son neither of which wanted the property so I suspect they probably sold the property after their folks passed away. Any home close or near the river is probably gone now.